


Something Sweet

by remreader



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Caring Tony Stark, Domestic Fluff, F/M, Fluff, Hot Chocolate, Pepper loves it though, Pregnant Pepper Potts, Tony Is A Dork
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-02
Updated: 2020-11-02
Packaged: 2021-03-09 03:22:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 963
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27344263
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/remreader/pseuds/remreader
Summary: Tony livens up Pepper's day with some sweet treats.
Relationships: Pepper Potts/Tony Stark
Comments: 25
Kudos: 48
Collections: Comfortember 2020, Ladies of Marvel Bingo 2020, Tony Stark Bingo Mark IV





	Something Sweet

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you to Comfortember for giving me the impetus to finally write this bit of fluff!  
> (for the prompt "hot cocoa")
> 
> and some bingo fill details...  
> Title: Something Sweet  
> Collaborator Name: newnewyorker93  
> TSB Card Number: 4042  
> Squares Filled:  
> • Tony Stark Bingo: R4 - happily ever after  
> • Ladies of Marvel Bingo: E5 - sharing the couch  
> Main Pairing: Tony Stark/Pepper Potts  
> Rating: Gen  
> Major Tags: Fluff  
> Summary: Tony livens up Pepper's day with some sweet treats.  
> Word Count: 963

It was a crisp autumn afternoon, one of those lazy days where lounging outside - providing you were under a thick blanket - was perfection. Pepper was sitting on the porch couch, curled up under just such a blanket as she read through the monthly Stark Industries financial reports. Not the most exciting activity in the world, but her cozy surroundings made it much more tolerable. Still, she wasn't exactly sorry for the distraction when the sounds of a minor scuffle - "No, _I'm_ carrying them, Dum-E. _You're_ staying in here and getting busy with that mop." - echoed out from behind the kitchen door and then Tony emerged, carrying two large mugs with steam wafting tantalizingly off of them.

Pepper gazed wistfully at the mugs. "I can't have coffee," she reminded Tony, "and you _said_ you wouldn't either." He'd made this harrowing declaration as a show of solidarity with her pregnancy-induced caffeine restrictions, and since decaf was apparently "a travesty" and "an insult to coffee beans everywhere," the Stark lakehouse had become a temporarily coffee-free zone. (Pepper didn't really care if he stuck to that, but it _was_ kind of fun to watch him try.)

"Oh." Tony frowned at the contents of the mugs. "Shit, you're right." Then, with the hint of a smile starting to play at the corner of his mouth, he passed one to Pepper anyway. She felt the warmth of it seep into her fingers as she breathed in the delicious aroma of...definitely _not_ coffee. Tony shrugged. "Guess we'll just have to make do with hot chocolate then."

Pepper grinned down into her mug as she lifted it to her lips, shaking her head slightly at her husband's teasing. She had a sip and then peered up at Tony, meeting his eyes as he fidgeted, clearly eagerly - and perhaps anxiously - awaiting feedback. The hot chocolate was _excellent_ \- rich and creamy and not too sweet. Which she'd tell him, of course, but not without having her own bit of fun first. She took another long taste. "Hmm...no marshmallows," she sighed, pretending to pout.

"No marshmallows," Tony scoffed. "Of course there's marshmallows, would I bring you hot chocolate without marshmallows?" With no potential allies in the immediate vicinity to sympathize with his performative outrage he instead addressed their alpaca, Gerald, who was grazing out in the yard. "Can you believe this?"

Shockingly, Gerald had nothing to say on the matter.

"We only had the big ones," Tony explained, pulling a bag of marshmallows out of his hoodie pocket and setting it atop Pepper's blanket for easy access. "So we'll just have to do it like this!" He selected a marshmallow from the bag, swirled it around in Pepper's mug of hot chocolate, and held it out for her to bite.

A few stray drops trickled down from the marshmallow onto Tony's thumb and Pepper licked them off, savoring both the chocolate and his dumbfounded expression. "This is _really_ good," she said, as if nothing had happened. "Did you make it from scratch?"

"What?" Tony had to take a second to refocus. "Oh. Yep! Jarvis - the human one, I mean - had a special recipe he used to make for Ana. Real chocolate, the works. Seemed like a good time to give it a whirl." He sat down on the couch next to Pepper and used his free hand to tug the edge of her blanket over to cover him too. "And before you say what I _know_ you're thinking, I swear I didn't ruin any major kitchen appliances." Pepper raised an eyebrow at this, waiting for the rest. "And I _will_ clean up the mess."

"Thought so."

"I also brought-" Tony reached into his pocket again to pull out a candy cane, which he spun around on his finger a few times before offering it to Pepper. "Good for nausea!" He said it playfully, but there was real concern in his eyes as he looked at her.

"That's very sweet of you," she reassured him, turning down the candy cane and picking out another marshmallow for herself instead, "but mini Stark is actually playing nice at the moment."

"Ah." Tony nodded sagely. "You probably bored them to sleep with all of this." He eyed the discarded tablet that still displayed the SI financial reports and gave it an exaggerated dirty look.

"Come on, it's not _that_ bad." Pepper insisted. She snuggled closer to Tony under their shared blanket and let out a soft, contented sigh as she rested her head against his shoulder. "This is definitely much better though."

They sat together quietly for a few minutes after that, sipping at their hot chocolates and snacking on marshmallows and just enjoying each other's company, until eventually Tony started contemplating his candy cane again. "You know what _else_ is good about peppermint?" he asked. From the way he drew out the first two syllables of the word - _pepper_ -mint - Pepper had a pretty good idea of what wavelength he was on now, but she waited for the punchline all the same. "It tastes _delicious_ ," he finished, giving her a sly look.

"Is that so?" Pepper asked, eyes sparkling. She loved it when he got like this. It was adorable, in an extremely dorky way.

Tony nodded, very seriously. "Scientific fact." He gave the candy cane an extra-suggestive lick without breaking eye contact.

Pepper laughed. She plucked Tony's mug out of his hand and set it on the floor next to hers where they'd both be safely out of spilling range. "Go on then," she encouraged, and Tony leaned in and kissed her.

The kiss tasted like sugar and chocolate and peppermint and Tony's fingers were marshmallow-sticky where they pressed against Pepper's skin and it was perfect.

(Even if the hot chocolate did get cold.)

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! ❤


End file.
